Alyson West was interviewed by Hillary Ossip on July 11, 2011 at the Yiddish Book Center.
Alyson West, a 2011 Steiner Summer Student, described growing up in Roanoke, Virginia. She noted that she hadnât met any Jewish people until she began studying at the University of Virginia, where she majored in English. In her final year of college, Alyson decided to take both Hebrew and Yiddish to acquire more credits in order to graduate. In her classes, she was one of only a few non-Jewish students, which she expands upon in the interview. While studying Yiddish, Alyson learned about the Steiner Summer Program at the Yiddish Book Center. A member of the advanced Yiddish class, Alyson is also conducting a research project for the program. She describes the evolution of her research topic from her original proposal to its state at the time of the interview. Alyson also talks about the dynamics of the summer program, the enthusiasm of her peers, and her hopes for the future of Yiddish.
To learn more about the Wexler Oral History Project, visit: http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story


This movie is part of the collection: Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project

Producer: Yiddish Book Center (Lily)
Audio/Visual: sound
Keywords: Yiddish Book Center; National Yiddish Book Center; Wexler Oral History Project; nybc; ybc; Yiddish; Jewish culture; Advice; Favorite Yiddish word; Yiddish words; Childhood; Yiddish language; Yiddish learning; Other languages; Literature; Scholarship; Academia; Education; United States; Yiddish Book Center; Rural; Alyson West; Roanoke; Virginia; University of Virginia; 1990s; 2000s;

Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0

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